Gray Backgrounds in Publisher

I have had this happen in Publisher 2003 and now I have upgraded to 2010 and still have the same problem.

I create a graphic in Publisher, so a box with a design or picture in it, add some text, either in the original box or by putting a new text box within the other one. Then I select it all, Group it and then do a right click and select Save As Picture... and then it becomes a crap shoot as to whether or not it will save correctly. Sometimes it will save with a gray background. I have tried saving as a JPG, PNG & GIF. I don't have a background set on the picture, it is usually just plain. However, when I have tried setting a background color, usually white, it still might do it.

I have even had it happen where it saves correctly but when I e-mail the file to the printer, the background somehow becomes gray on the attachment that I send. I have a banner right now that looks terrible but I can't really complain because they printed it the same as what I sent them.

What could be causing this? I appreciate any help that you can give us. Thanks.